Google, Verizon, and Net Neutrality

I recently came across this NPR online article, "Google And Verizon CEOs Unveil Proposed Net-Neutrality Policy."

"This is bad. Very, very bad. Don't be fooled by the happy-sounding words that surround the main points.Tomorrow's internet is wireless. Period. Today's wired internet is going the way of the VCR. And tomorrow's wireless internet is exempt from these rules -- meaning that companies CAN block or degrade traffic to legal sites, they CAN favor certain traffic over other traffic, etc. What does that mean? It means if you want to see a video of the newest iPhone on your Droid, you'd better go put on a pot of coffee, because it could be a while. Using Comcast but you want to check out Verizon's prices? Go get yourself to the library where they still have them old wired computers, because Comcast Wireless doesn't support access to "Premium" sites without an extra fee. The internet goes from the open and equal-access portal you've come to love to this. Please call your representative. The internet was built with tax dollars -- it's a public resource just like a highway. (Like an information SuperHighway!) Corporations should not be allowed to discriminate based on whether or not they like your packets."

The comment comes from a member of the many growing advocacy groups for net neutrality. Net neutrality is a principle advocating no restrictions on content, sites, platforms, etc. placed by internet service providers. Google and Verizon are apparently "joining forces" to offer "additional, differentiated services" (i.e. to those who pay $$ for faster-loading content).

The debate piqued my curiosity, so I ran a mini poll on LinkedIn on primary search engine use. Of the measly 17 responses, an overwhelming (and expected) 94% said they primarily used Google. The other 6% said Yahoo. Zero people said Bing or Other.

What do you think of the net neutrality concept and the Google/Verizon partnership?

Girls Weekend: Cinci Style

This weekend I am hosting a girls weekend in Cincinnati with two close friends from home (Columbus). Being a marketing professional, I want to have a plan ready and create some excitement for their mini-trip to the Queen City! With the help of Metromix Cincinnati, I put together a brief itinerary with a variety of options for activities and dining. I included categorized links at the bottom for more information. This list can serve as a guide for those who also find themselves hosting a girls weekend in Cincinnati (substitute Ft. Thomas for your local area)!

Below is my e-mail to the girls:


Hello Bethany and Karyn!

Let me just begin by exclaiming how EXCITED I am for our Girls Weekend: Cincy Style! Did you really think I wouldn't come up with an itinerary? Below is a brief run-down of things I thought we could do. (I considered Bethany's response for things she'd like to do: "I love to sight see, lay out by the pool, go to artsy little places?") Now, do not be worried about spending a bunch of money. This itinerary is very flexible and can be as expensive or non-expensive as you'd like! And, just in case you're wondering Karyn, there IS a T-BELL down the road from my apartment. Check!

::FRIDAY NIGHT
-Wine tasting/appetizers on the patio at my apartment
-Bar hopping in Ft. Thomas (See "Ft. Thomas Hole in the Walls" for options below.)

::SATURDAY DAY
-Coffee/light lunch
-Pool lounging

::SATURDAY NIGHT
-Dinner out (See "Restaurants" for options below.)
-Bar hopping (See "Fun Nightlife Areas" for options below.)

::SUNDAY DAY
-Brunch (See "Brunch Places" for options below.)
-Findlay Market
-Burlington Antique Show

________________________________________

Events:
Wine Tastings in the Area
Bar/Club Events
Concerts in the Area

Art/Museum Galleries/Exhibits

Fun Nightlife Areas:
Northside
Mt. Adams
Mt. Lookout
Newport & Levee
-->Beer Sellar
-->Hofbrauhaus

Ft. Thomas Hole in the Walls:
915 Pub & Grill
Midway Cafe
Olde Fort Thomas Pub

Restaurants:
Ludlow-Bromley Yacht Club (great tiki bar too!)
Nada
Indigo

Sarellis
Melt

Brunch Places

SEE YOU FRIDAY!!! :)

Your Hostess With the Mostess,
Kelley

...It will be interesting to see how much of this "plan" we actually follow this weekend. Stay tuned!

What I've Learned: 5 (Honest) Tips on Social Media Marketing

Today's post is an attempt to join the content marketing "revolution." Producing creative, useful, and shareable content is the way to an online social presence that increases brand awareness and credibility among consumers.

This "content" is from my personal brand, Kelley Dodd, and is in no way associated with any other organization. However, I have just begun some modest social media efforts for my company and feel I should share some learned "rules of thumb" on leveraging these new outlets for any brand.

1 :: Do position your organization as a thought leader in your industry.

When consumers think of your product or service offering, you want them to think of your company/organization. You can start to gain credibility in small steps. Participate in discussion forums and Q&A on LinkedIn, comment on blogs, re-tweet and @reply, generate thought-provoking, practical content and submit it to Digg and delicious, etc. (all in a non-presumptuous way, of course.)

2 :: Do be social and engage in conversation.

This overly-instructed tactic should imply the inverse - don't ignore attempts at contact with your brand. I recently @replied twice on Twitter to a hair salon in Columbus asking if they were offering any color specials and received no response. Not only was this non-responsiveness rude, it gave me the impression that the hair salon could care less about my business. Needless to say, I took my lovely locks elsewhere. If you're not willing to be social, why waste your time (and mine) on social media?

3 :: Don't send consumers on a wild goose chase within multiple social media channels.

It's fine to tweet about your latest blog post, that's social media 101. It's also fine to openly promote your Facebook fan page via twitter (as long as there's a viable incentive for the fan.) However, it is not fine to post an intriguing article link on Twitter and slyly send the reader to your "pit stop" Facebook page in order to access the article. Not only is this tactic excessive and annoying, but I see no point in measuring this empty metric as an actual Facebook page view. Other marketers may think otherwise, but that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

4 :: Don't be passive and assume merely creating a social media account will suffice.

This tip stems from the above #2. Situation: you're marketing an event and you want to spread the word via social media. You create a LinkedIn event page, Facebook fan page and Twitter account. Now it's time to sit back and watch the publicity and interest grow, right? Wrong. You need to constantly update and excite, invite people to connect and provide the answer to their question, "What's in it for me?"

5 :: Do meet new people and secure contacts.

This tip also stems from #2, but with a different angle. Social media is the new Rolodex. I learn from and network with people everyday through social media. You never know when someone whose blog post you commented on will think of you in the future - whether it's for a job position, product or service, industry advice, etc.

Social media is not for everyone. But with some effort and personality, it just may pay off.

Walk to Cure Diabetes

Last weekend I participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Walk to Cure Diabetes at Kings Island in Cincinnati. I participated to support my co-worker, Ana Guzman, in her 20th year having Diabetes. Thanks to my wonderful family and friends, I was able to surpass my fundraising goal! We had a great time for a great cause! I thought about people in my family who have diabetes and walked for them too.

Diabetes is a growing epidemic in our country, especially among youth. Here are some shocking facts about diabetes (as taken from the American Diabetes Association):

Total: 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population—have diabetes.

Diagnosed: 17.9 million people

Undiagnosed: 5.7 million people

Pre-diabetes: 57 million people

New Cases: 1.6 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older each year.

Under 20 years of age: 186,300, or 0.22% of all people in this age group have diabetes

About one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes.

2 million adolescents (or 1 in 6 overweight adolescents) aged 12-19 have pre-diabetes.

To find a walk near you, visit The JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes website.

Mother Daughter Weekend

This weekend I got to spend some quality time with my mom - the one and only Debbie Dodd! She came down to see my furnished apartment and spend some time in my new neighborhood. We had a great time on what she called her "mini vacation!"

Deb arrived Friday evening and we walked over to Main Street for happy hour at Cock N Bull English Pub. We then went over to the Strass Haus and listened to a live band. We attempted to compete in a "hillbilly" dancing contest and suffered a bitter loss. ;)

On Saturday morning I made us breakfast - eggs, toast, fruit, and mimosas! We decided to do some exploring and browsed Julie's Inspiration Consignment Shop on Main Street where I found this amazing vintage cuff bracelet! It's a great conversation piece. Apparently the late owner's grandson brought in the bracelet and is president of an art museum downtown! His grandmother owned some very unique pieces - they are sold soon after he brings them into the shop!

We ventured over to the Florence Antique Mall but were informed it was closing in five minutes as we walked through the door! We decided Old Time Pottery would suffice and headed across the street where I found an eye-catching wall fixture and a lamp that was perfectly suited for my living room.

All that shopping had made us hungry so we had dinner at our favorite restaurant - Don Pablos! We went out to some bars in MainStrasse again that night and came home to play with Photo Booth on my Mac. :)

Sunday we went to see the romantic comedy Valentine's Day at Newport on the Levee before Deb made her way back to Columbus.

It was nice to spend one-on-one time with my mom. We both still struggle with me being on my own and away from home. She is an amazing woman and I am very fortunate to have her in my life!

Home Sweet Home -- Finally!

My lack of blog dedication has been downright embarrassing the past few months. I thought my new "urban living" lifestyle would make a good pick-up point!

I have moved into an apartment in the heart of downtown Covington, KY -- an eclectic little district called MainStrasse. German for "Main Street," MainStrasse pleasantly reminds me of German Village back in my hometown of Columbus, OH. The Main Street is lined with bars, restaurants and shops each with unique personality. The village has a variety of German festivals and community events throughout the year such as Mardi Gras, antique sales, wine festivals and farmers markets (to name a few)!

I have thus far checked out Cosmo's, Cock-N-Bull, Rosie's Tavern and Chez Nora. I ate at Chez Nora last week with my dad, who happened to be in town on business and wanted to treat his newly-independent daughter to a good meal! We split the famous Chez Nora crab cakes as an appetizer, my dad had the Half Amish Chicken and I had the Black and Bleu Chicken Pasta (sautéed Cajun chicken breast, portabella mushrooms, artichokes and red onions tossed in a gorgonzola cream sauce topped with prosciutto ham -- yum!) It was all delicious! I definitely recommend this spot for out of town guests, an intimate date or after-work happy hour. Half-price wine on Tuesdays and nightly live music on the rooftop terrace bar make for a great evening!

Stay tuned as I explore more places in my new neighborhood!

Blog Action Day '09: Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day, where thousands of bloggers around the world are coming together to promote one cause: climate change. It's time to face the imminent and devastating facts on which scientists unequivocally agree. While I am not the most informed source on climate change, I have done my research. This post will cover some basic points from how climate change impacts our daily life to how we can reduce our carbon footprint.

Global warming is literally hanging over the world like the proverbial dark cloud. In one sentence, global warming is "an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution" (merriamwebster.com.) Polluting emissions come from human activities such as cars and power plants. The combustion of fossil fuels causes atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) that are at a level unequaled for at least 800,000 years.

"A global climate change agreement is necessary so that we can limit the negative man-made effects on the climate system for future generations" (en.cop15.dk.) This agreement is the aim of the United Nations Climate Change Conference ("COP15") scheduled for December 2009. All eyes will be these world leaders as they attempt to reduce emissions in a seriously political way. You can access COP15 updates on facebook, twitter and youtube.

Climate Change in Our Daily Lives

While reading the Center for American Progress's Top 100 Effects of Global Warming, I was shocked by the mass amount of cultural landmarks, foods and animals we take for granted that will be eliminated by global warming. This list is definitely worth reading!

What Can YOU Do?

It's easy to calculate your carbon footprint and find ways to balance your impact. Conservation International's carbon calculator evaluates your lifestyle and natural product consumption in a quick and comprehensive way.

Thanks to Kids vs. Global Warming, here's a list of simple daily actions you can individually take to combat global warming:

:: Invest in alternative energy (instead of supporting power companies that fuel global warming.)

:: Hang-dry your clothes. (Household appliances like dryers hog energy.)

:: Recycle.

:: Eat locally-grown foods.

:: Refuse plastic bottles. (Last year it took 1.5 million barrels of oil to make them.)

:: Plant trees. (Trees actually decrease CO2 levels.)

:: Use LEDS or compact florescent light bulbs (instead of regular light bulbs that waste tons of energy.)


That's the end of my Climate Change 101. Thanks to all who made Blog Action Day possible.